Turkey says forces patrolling Manbij, will enter town ‘step by step’

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Our forces have begun military patrols in the northern Syrian city of Manbij and will enter the town “step by step,” Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Monday.

Earlier in the day, the Turkish army said its troops, along with US forces, had begun “independent patrolling activity” in the line between the Euphrates Shield zone and Manbij according to a roadmap agreed on by Ankara and Washington.

The Turkish Foreign Minister told reporters on Monday in the southern province of Antalya that Manbij would be cleared of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) “as soon as possible,” according to a Reuters report.

Turkey claims the YPG has ties to the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), and thus considers the group “terrorists.” The US rejects that characterization.

On June 4, Cavusoglu met with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo where the two endorsed a “general roadmap” for Manbij that was “conditions-based.”

The dispute between Turkey and the US stems from the role of the YPG, who provide the leadership of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) which is battling the so-called Islamic State (IS) in Syria.

The YPG has since announced the withdrawal of military advisers from Manbij, stating that none of its fighters remain in the city.

Speaking the day after Washington and Ankara endorsed the roadmap for the Syrian city, US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis explained that the SDF remains “critical to ensuring the final defeat of IS.

“We will not simply cast the organization [the SDF] aside,” Mattis said.